Solitude at 8am

The duck doesn't care about the urban planning that has led to this carefully arranged shrub, its ceramic pot set to frame the lake and trees beyond, and neither do I care about the shrub. But then, the duck also doesn't see its path spreading across the lake, or the dewy grass along the bank, and feel your absence. It's the same separateness a viewer must yield to any pastoral art. For example, one time I tried to reach into a painting and the canvas ripped away. It was a hard lesson to learn.